Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Marmalade

Marmalade is so called because a sixteenth century King of
France had a much-loved little daughter called Marie. Marie fell ill and
started to waste away, having no appetite. The Court Cook was sent for and
instructed to prepare a new delicacy to tempt her. He took bitter oranges,
added an equal quantity of sugar, and boiled them together, muttering the while
‘Marie est malade, Marie est malade.’

The above is of course total nonsense; an example of that
pleasantly misleading anecdotal genre the folk etymology. Madame Quince has
explained to me, citing several authorities, that the word comes from the
Portuguese. Briefly, the earliest marmalade was made from quinces; ‘Marmela’ in
Portuguese. Those needing more detail on this important matter will be looking
forward to Madame Quince’s book on — er — Quinces, title and publishing date yet
to be announced.